Swallowed Button Batteries and Honey?!

Button battery ingestion is a big deal. So much so that The National Battery Ingestion Hotline (NBIH) was created in 1982 to study and advise best practices. They look at all types of batteries but swallowed button batteries account for 94% of batteries ingested. Until recently the agreed-upon first aid guidelines for a swallowed button battery were to take nothing at all by mouth (no oral intake!) but to get to the ER as soon as possible for timely x-rays to find the position of the battery, before promptly removing the battery with an endoscope. Who Swallows Button Batteries? Kids swallow button batteries, particularly kids under 6 years old. The peak age for this is in toddlers 1 to 2 years old, just old enough to toddle into trouble and just young enough not to know better. Typically, they pop it in the mouth as soon as they remove it from the object. Button batteries are in games and toys and lights and remote controls, garage door openers and key fobs and singing greeting card – powerfully fascinating items to young kids. (The elderly also swallow button batteries, perhaps mistaking a hearing aid battery for a pill) What’s the Big Deal? First the good news: most people who swallow button batteries end up fine. But for a significant minority, the battery nestles into the mucus lining of the esophagus and the electrical discharge begins to cause corrosive injury. Burns are seen within a couple of hours, and serious burns as soon as 8 to 12 hours. If the battery remain...
Source: Conversations with Dr Greene - Category: Child Development Authors: Tags: Dr. Greene's Blog Household Safety Toddler Health & Safety Source Type: blogs